[CA Dreamin]

Beginning this music diary as a tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne. We lost Brian Wilson in June, and Ozzy the following month. Both music legends, heavily influential. Repo started a Beach Boys listening project on his diary thread. After I gave it some thought, I decided Ozzy also deserves a listening project on BEA.

Everyone is welcome to post in this thread. In fact, I encourage it. I may be the author/host of this diary but I don't want to be posting at myself cause that gets old/boring real fast. Just stay on topic, have fun, and let's go through the Prince of Darkness's discography together! (after this listening project, this diary thread might turn into something else, I don't know, let's see how it goes)

That's it for the introductory post. First up, Black Sabbath's self-titled debut.
_________________
on such a winter's day

[Repo]

[CA Dreamin]

It begins with the sounds of rain, thunder, and church bells, before three simple notes and nightmarish lyrics chime in. Nothing sounded quite like it in its time, and by the end of the downward-spiraling opening track, a new genre was born. Black Sabbath, the song, the album, and the band, was something new. For years, rock music had been party music, or love music, or protest music, or peace music. Whatever the theme, rock had mostly been upbeat. It pissed off some of the older generations with its permissive attitudes towards drugs and sex. But nothing prepared people for Sabbath's brand of rock. Darker, uglier, and Satanic, as though it was testing what people (of any generation) would tolerate. Maybe it wasn't meant to make listeners feel better, but it sure made listeners feel something. Angst? Fear? Uneasiness? Energy? All of the above? You can visualize these songs too from their descriptive lyrics. And who can forget the cover of this album, which perfectly captures the mood? Aside from the Satanic-themed "Black Sabbath" and "N.I.B.", this album also featured song lyrics derived from literature and mythology ("The Wizard" and "Behind the Wall of Sleep"), and an angsty criticism of the contemporary geopolitical situation ("Wicked World"). It's the first album one could call heavy metal, and in some ways it became a blueprint for the genre. Ozzy and company would go on and expand on these ideas, but their self-titled debut was one hell of a start. Side A of this album is perfect. All 4 tracks are 10/10. Side B doesn't compete, making it uneven, but alas. It's an excellent album nonetheless.

[Johnnyo]

My take will not be as eloquent as CA Dreamin’s but thought that I might share my personal journey with Ozzy and the band.

I was a 12 year old in 1970 living in, as Ozzy and the guys would see it, the wrong side of Birmingham. For those who are not aware, football is a religion in Birmingham and the city is split across the city centre and your either a villain (supporting Aston Villa), or if you come from the south of the city you’re a bluenose (supporting Birmingham City). I’m a proud bluenose and the band all support the villa. Never the Twain shall meet. Until……..

Birmingham is the quintessential blue collar city. Back then, The home of British Leyland and heavy industry. The city of a thousand trades. If you wanted it built, Birmingham could do it with highly skilled tradesmen. That was our identity and it was a rough place to grow up but we didn’t think of it that way as kid. It was just Birmingham.

What we didn’t have as teenagers was our own identity as far as music, not like Liverpool with The Beatles or London with The Stones. Then along came The Sabb.

The first time I heard the self titled album I wasn’t interested in Gezzer’s politics, although this became more important and relevant as I got older, no, it was the first time that I heard anything that sounded like the city that I loved. Industrial, visceral, something that actually had a physical effect on you.

We didn’t know that a whole new genre of music was being created in our city, me and my friends had simply found the music that felt like our city. Didn’t matter which side of the city you lived, there was no divide as far as the band were concerned.

Ozzy famously hated putting music into genre but I do feel proud that, more than 50 years later, and after many sub genre of heavy metal, my city is still the place where it was born.

A bit of a ramble there but Ozzy and the band mean a huge amount to me and although my musical palette has expanded hugely since my early teens I still love going back to Black Sabbath for a fix on a regular basis

[Johnnyo]

Oh, meant to say. I will come back and rank the albums but just wanted to get the above off my chest as a separate piece.

[Johnnyo]

What I didn't realise is that the self titled debut was recorded in one 8 hour session. That is totally unbelievable.

Anyway, One of the greatest debut albums ever, and, considering it's legacy, one of the most important albums of all time.

It's so consistent in it's quality, which is not too surprising given the one session take, that you can't find fault with any track as the one that lets the album down.

This album gets a 100 / 100 from me, which is very rare for me. I only give small handful of albums that score.

Looking forward to anyone else's thoughts on this album and happy to get into any discussions around this phenomenal album

[CA Dreamin]

^Great anecdote! The industrial blue-collar setting is totally relevant. I wonder if the song Iron Man was inspired by it, but that's a topic for the next album. Anyway, it's reflected in their sound and reflected on the cover. The dim, grainy image of the water mill with a black-cloaked figure in the foreground. Captures both the blue-collar and the occult (though worth noting the image is not in Birmingham).

Anyway I didn't know until now there are 3 versions of the tracklist. The European version has Evil Woman #5 and doesn't have Wicked World. Whereas the the North American version has Wicked World at #5, and doesn't have Evil Woman. I'd say the North American version wins there as Wicked World is significantly better imo. Evil woman is the only song I find kinda meh. The version of the album I own is the CD issue which has Evil Woman #5, and Wicked World #8, so I've always considered both songs when considering the entire album. I want to clarify my line "Side B doesn't compete" was not a dismissal of the second half. In addition to Wicked Word, Sleeping Village and Warning are very good songs too. I just find Side A perfection. I can't think of many half albums that rival Black Sabbath through N.I.B.

Since BEA does not include multiple tracklists, Wicked World has no rating. It's actually nowhere on the site. I'm curious what its rating would be but we'll never know. I think it's a great track.

Ditto to Johnnyo's point this album was recorded in one session. Astounding.

Well, there's nothing else yet to rank alongside Black Sabbath, but if I had to rank the 3 versions, I'd go 1. Original North American version. 2. 1996 CD re-issue. 3. Original European version (the tracklisting here on BEA)...basically re-iterating Wicked World > Evil Woman.
_________________
on such a winter's day

[Repo]

[Johnnyo]

CA Dreamin

You mentioned iron man earlier. I’ll hold off on my understanding of how the name came about until we discuss paranoid, but it’s a very Ozzy explanation

[CA Dreamin]